HP MetaWatch Will Connect Your Life

We’ve seen a few watches in the past which act like mobile phones, but HP is looking to take things to a whole new level with its imaginatively titled MetaWatch.

Still very much in the prototype phase, the MetaWatch was developed by watch manufacturer, Fossil as part of a co-innovation with HP. The company’s Phil McKinney gave us the first ever glimpse of the device this week in Shanghai and he was billing the MetaWatch as “an investigation into not only the devices you carry in your pocket but the devices you wear.” This device runs a software stack, fully integrates with the internet and allows you aggregrate that information, “from being able to connect it, share it bring it together.”

The watch will work in conjunction with HP’s family of devices including the recently launched TouchPad, Pre 3 and TouchSmart PCs and will act as the integration point for all of the devices you carry with you.

The watch is part of HP’s “intelligent connected device research” it started five years ago and we have already seen some of the fruits of that research in the touchstone technology we saw rolled out with the Pre and TouchPad last month, where they can ‘speak’ to each other simply by touching one off the other. While there was no date mentioned for a release of the watch or what exactly it could do, we will be interested to see how HP ties it in with it current crop of products when it is finally released.

update: Phil McKinney has posted a new blog regarding the MetaWatch where he outlines what the watch will do eventually and mentions 2015 as a possible date when we might see it in the shops. He went on to clarify: "The MetaWatch isn’t something you can buy. Nor is this some kind of promise that anyone is even producing it. Right now, it is an investigation that Fossil (and HP) are currently working on."

Hans Gruber

March 5, 2011, 1:33 am

I lost the will to live before even a minute passed. Is there a point to this watch? Really? I'm afraid I couldn't wait around to see it so if anyone's got any more info that doesn't necessitate watching this boring presentation then I'd be glad for it. Ta.

richard smith

March 6, 2011, 5:29 am

wasn't the touchstone technology developed my Palm for the release of the Palm Pre???

Jedibeeftrix

March 7, 2011, 12:39 am

bizarrely, this was something i suggested Apple do with the ipod nano on Thursday, a day before HP release their marvellous idea.

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